AllFreeNovel
Share Us
As Ollie topped up Frankie’s glass, she explained the whole two weeks apart and the daily phone calls, and then she got to the part about Ursula. That made Frankie really angry. She made a fist and waved it around, like she was going to go find this offending woman and punch her face in. When Ollie finally finished her story, Frankie was halfway through a bottle of scotch and she was swaying slightly.
“I need to beat someone up.”
“Easy there, Rocky Balboa.”
Frankie giggled and steadied herself by grabbing the bar. “But seriously, Anders, you have to say something.”
“Say what, exactly?”
“I dunno, he’syourboyfriend.”
Ollie sighed. “I don’t know what happened, Frankie. Maybe it was nothing.”
“Or maybe it was something. Sure, we like Jackson and we support your relationship,” Frankie paused to burp, “but maybe this woman doesn’t give a shit and wants your man.”
“Okay, that’s a tad dramatic.”
“We know nothing about this girl outside of what Jackson told you, right?”
“Don’t do that.” Ollie made a face.
“Okay, fine, that was low. I trust Jackson to make the right choices, but also…”
Ollie sighed. “Yeah, I know what you mean.”
“Talk to him, Anders. It’s probably not as bad as we’re making it out to be.”
“I mean, it did take him a while to even tell me she existed.”
Frankie shrugged. “I’m not going to tell everyone about Trent at the beginning of a relationship.”
“That’s different.”
“How? Trent hurt me, he made me feel like shit and I had to pick myself up and move on.”
Ollie groaned and put the bottle of scotch away. “No more alcohol for you, you make too much sense.”
Frankie grinned and knocked back what was left of her drink. Ollie handed her a glass of water and put in an order for wings and garlic bread so she could soak up all of the alcohol before she went home. But Frankie was right, Ollie needed to talk to Jackson. Maybe it was nothing. Maybe it wasn’t anything to get worked up about.
But her trust issues were flaring up and Ollie hated that. Jackson had already kept Ursula from her for so long and now, he was hanging out with her? At the same time, she was worried about him. From everything Jackson told her, Ursula had really hurt him and seeing her again couldn’t have been easy. Ollie knew that some heartbreaks hurt more than others and it didn’t matter how it happened or what the impact was, it still hurt.
Hours later,once she’d finished her shift and Frankie had inhaled all of the food in front of her, Ollie took her back to her apartment. With her best friend tucked into bed, water and Advil on her nightstand, Ollie drove back to her place. She was exhausted. While she hadn’t danced that morning, the mental gymnastics she had done with the whole Jackson and Ursula thing had worn her out.
Letting herself into the apartment, she toed off her boots, dropped her jacket and bag by the door before dragging herself into the kitchen for some water. With a bottle in hand, she turned off all the lights and pushed open the door to her bedroom and found Jackson fast asleep in the middle of her bed. Quietly moving through the room, Ollie set the water down and fished out her phone to find a whole heap of texts from Jackson. She carried her phone to the bathroom, where she leaned against the counter and read them.
Jackson:I’m sorry, I know how this looks, but I promise nothing happened.
Jackson:Oleander, please call me back.
Jackson:Babe, I can hear the wheels in your head turning, please don’t think of the worst thing.
Jackson:I’m leaving work and coming to you.
Jackson:You’re not here. Are you avoiding me?
Jackson:Oh wait, your shift isn’t over for another few hours.
Jackson:Okay, I’ll be here.
